Category: Software

Another one? That could be the reaction of veteran Windows users who read the headline. Microsoft confirmed another BitLocker related issue in Windows 11. This one may be caused by installing the most recent cumulative update for the operating system.

In the Known issues section of the update, Microsoft confirms that devices might boot into the BitLocker Recovery screen and not the desktop.

According to the description, the issue is caused by an “unrecommended BitLocker Group Policy configuration”. Only a “limited number of systems” are affected according to Microsoft. The company says that the issue affects only systems for which all of the following conditions are true:

• BitLocker is enabled on the OS drive.
• The Group Policy “Configure TPM platform validation profile for native UEFI firmware configurations” is configured, and PCR7 is included in the validation profile (or the equivalent registry key is set manually).
• System Information (msinfo32.exe) reports Secure Boot State PCR7 Binding as “Not Possible”.
• The Windows UEFI CA 2023 certificate is present in the device’s Secure Boot Signature Database (DB), making the device eligible for the 2023‑signed Windows Boot Manager to be made the default.
• The device is not already running the 2023-signed Windows Boot Manager.

Devices that meet the conditions may boot into recovery mode after installing the KB508376 for Windows 11, versions 24H2 or 25H2.

A workaround is available to remove the Group Policy configuration before installing the update.

1. Open Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) or your Group Policy Management Console.
2. Navigate to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > BitLocker Drive Encryption > Operating System Drives.
3. Set “Configure TPM platform validation profile for native UEFI firmware configurations” to “Not Configured“.
4. Run the following command on affected devices to propagate the policy change: gpupdate /force
5. Run the following command to suspend BitLocker (where BitLocker is enabled on the C: drive): manage-bde -protectors -disable C: 
6. Run the following command to resume BitLocker (where BitLocker is enabled on the C: drive): manage-bde -protectors -enable C: 
7. ​​​​​​​This updates the BitLocker bindings to use the Windows-selected default PCR profile.

Microsoft plans to release a permanent fix in the future to address this. Windows users who use a Microsoft Account can look up the recovery key for BitLocker online.

When Microsoft introduced the two-tier context menu of Windows 11 it claimed that one reason for the change was to streamline the context menu of the operating system. This did not turn out too well, considering that users juggle between the new and the classic menu regularly since the release of Windows 11.

Apps may still add entries to the Windows context menu and since there is no central editor to manage all entries, it is either done through the app itself — if it offers such an option — or the Registry Editor.

Windows 11 Context Menu Manager is a free open source tool that offers another option. It focuses on items added by apps and not the Microsoft entries.

When you launch it, you see all context menu items in a list. The default scenario is to remove them for the user. You can also remove them machine-wide, but that requires running the app with elevated rights.

Each entry is listed with its name and some information. To be honest, this is not super useful, but it becomes useful when you expand the entry. There, you find information about file types.

To give you one example. The program listed two entries for Adobe Acrobat Reader. One was for PDF files, the other for any other file type that Acrobat Reader supported.

Even this advanced view is limited. The seven OneDrive entries did not reveal any information about their purpose when I expanded them. They were labeled command0, command1 and so on, and listed a wildcard under file and no directory.

With that in mind, you get an option to toggle the items off or on again. Other actions become available when you expand an item. There you find options to uninstall, open the file location, the settings of the app, or the Microsoft Store.

With those caveats, it is still a handy tool to hide certain items from the Windows 11 context menu, especially if the app does not provide options to do so in its preferences. (via Deskmodder)

If March 2026 was a marathon of infrastructure updates, April is a massive avalanche of patches.

Microsoft’s fourth Patch Tuesday of 2026 has arrived, addressing a massive 165 vulnerabilities in total. The sheer volume demands attention. It contains two 0-day vulnerabilities — one of which is actively exploited in the wild — and eight critical flaws affecting a wide range of products, including Office, SharePoint, Microsoft Defender, and Azure.

Here is the breakdown of what you need to know, what to patch first, and what might break.

The April 2026 Patch Day overview

Executive Summary

• Release Date: April 14, 2026
• Total Vulnerabilities: 165
• Critical Vulnerabilities: 8
• Zero-Days: 2 (SharePoint [Actively Exploited], Microsoft Defender [Publicly Disclosed])

Key Action Item: Administrators must prioritize patching internet-facing SharePoint servers due to the actively exploited spoofing zero-day. Simultaneously, network infrastructure and Active Directory components need immediate updates to mitigate several highly critical Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities.

Important Patches

• CVE-2026-32201 — Microsoft Office SharePoint Spoofing Vulnerability
• CVE-2026-33825 — Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
• CVE-2026-33824 — Windows Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Extension Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
• CVE-2026-33827 — Windows TCP/IP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
• CVE-2026-33826 — Windows Active Directory Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
• CVE-2026-23666 — .NET Denial of Service Vulnerability

Cumulative Updates

Product, Version	Links	Notes
Windows 11 & Windows 10	KB5082200 (Windows 10) KB5083768 (Windows 11, 26H1) KB5083769 (Windows 11, version 25H2 and 24H2)	Security updates addressing OS-level RCEs in TCP/IP, IKE, and Active Directory components. Also resolves numerous Elevation of Privilege (EoP) flaws across Windows Kernel, Boot Loader, and BitLocker.
Microsoft SharePoint Server		Patches for SharePoint 2016, 2019, and Subscription Edition to address the actively exploited CVE-2026-32201 spoofing flaw.
Microsoft Office		Security updates addressing multiple Critical Use-After-Free and Untrusted Pointer Dereference vulnerabilities resulting in local code execution

Deep Dive: The Critical Vulnerabilities

Microsoft confirmed that it patched two 0-day vulnerabilities this Patch Day and several critical remote code execution flaws.

Here is the critical overview:

CVE-2026-32201 (Microsoft Office SharePoint Spoofing Vulnerability)

This actively exploited zero-day allows an unauthorized attacker to perform spoofing over a network due to improper input validation in Microsoft Office SharePoint. An attacker who successfully exploits this can view sensitive information and make changes to disclosed information.

CVE-2026-33825 (Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability)

A publicly disclosed zero-day flaw in Microsoft Defender that allows privilege escalation to SYSTEM privileges. Microsoft has addressed the flaw in the Microsoft Defender Antimalware Platform update version 4.18.26050.3011, which should be downloaded to (most) systems automatically.

CVE-2026-33824 (Windows Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Extension RCE)

A critical double-free vulnerability in the Windows IKE extension. An unauthenticated attacker can send specially crafted packets to a Windows machine with IKE version 2 enabled to potentially achieve remote code execution. If IKE is not in use, blocking inbound traffic on UDP ports 500 and 4500 acts as a mitigation.

CVE-2026-33827 (Windows TCP/IP Remote Code Execution)

A critical race condition vulnerability in Windows TCP/IP that can result in remote code execution. An unauthenticated actor can send specially crafted IPv6 packets to a Windows node where IPSec is enabled to potentially achieve RCE.

CVE-2026-33826 (Windows Active Directory Remote Code Execution)

A critical improper input validation flaw in Windows Active Directory. It allows an authenticated attacker to execute code over an adjacent network.

First Steps: Your Patch Tuesday Strategy

• Prioritize the SharePoint zero-day
• Address network and directory risks
• Update Office installations

If you’ve ever felt completely lost in the web of Windows testing tiers or frustrated by slow A/B feature rollouts, relief may finally have arrived.

Microsoft announced a big overhaul of the Windows Insider Program this week designed to simplify how users test development builds of the operating system.

The company is cutting down the channel list to just two primary ones — Beta and Experimental — and is finally changing how experimental features land on test systems.

Here is a breakdown of the major changes:

• Two Streamlined Channels: The previously confusing multi-tier system is being condensed into just two primary tracks: Experimental (which replaces the Dev and Canary channels) and Beta (for features that are closer to being ready for the public).
• The End of A/B Testing: Microsoft is officially dropping its Controlled Feature Rollout (CFR) system for Beta channel participants. This means no more waiting in the dark while other testers randomly receive new features before you do.
• Manual Feature Flags: You are finally getting direct control over your testing experience. Moving forward, Insiders can manually toggle new features on or off directly within Windows Settings as soon as they are documented in the changelogs.
• No More “Clean Install” Trap: Historically, leaving the Insider program or dropping down to a more stable channel often required a complete, data-wiping OS reinstall. Microsoft is fixing this by allowing in-place upgrades (IPU), meaning you can transition channels or exit the program while keeping your files and apps intact.
• Clearer Communication: Release notes and documentation will be much more explicit about who features are for and which channel they belong to, giving IT admins, developers, and enthusiasts a much more transparent roadmap of what to expect.

From a testing perspective, Microsoft is launching several improvements. First, Beta users get access to features directly. No more waiting or using of third-party tools like ViVeTool to enable them.

Second, users in the experimental channel get options to turn certain features on, if they are not already enabled.

Third, switching between channels should get easier and less cumbersome.

Last but not least, more documentation is always welcome, as Microsoft’s attempts have been lackluster at best until now.

While the announcement may instill hope in Windows testers who have been disappointed by Microsoft so far, it is clear that Microsoft has to deliver. If the company does, it could improve its Windows Insider program significantly in the process.

VeraCrypt is a popular cross-platform encryption software that is available for Windows, Linux and macOS. It is one of the successors of TrueCrypt and can be used to encrypt hard drives, including system drives, and to create data containers on drive that are encrypted.

The developer of the application, Mounir Idrassi, published a project update on Sourceforge a few days ago. There, he explained why the project had been silent for the past few months.

According to his description, Microsoft terminated the account that he used to sign Windows drivers and the bootloader. This affects the Windows version of the encryption software, as updates can’t be signed anymore because of this. The Linux and macOS versions of the software are not affected by this.

To make matters worse, a screenshot with a message by Microsoft suggests that an appeal is not available. It is unclear what that means for the project. While a solution may be found eventually, likely through enough outside pressure to get a Microsoft representative to look at the case, it is certainly problematic when a company that operates its own encryption software — Microsoft with BitLocker — is blocking a competitor from releasing updates for his.

File archives serve plenty of purposes. They compress one or multiple files and folders and make them available as a single file; ideal for distribution and storage.

Many backup tools, for instance, support compressing backups to save storage space.

But how do you ensure that the archives are not corrupt? There are several options, including generating hashes and running verifiers.

However, if you have not created hashes in first place or find this too time consuming or unmanageable, you could test the archives directly using archivers.

PeaZip is an open source archiver for several operating systems. Version 11.0 was released recently and it includes a batch testing option.

Throw any number of support archive formats at the app and it will check each archive. It does so automatically and the only exception to that is when it encounters a password protected archive, as it will prompt for the password in that case.

You get a full list of results in the end that you can go through to find any archives that are damaged.

PeaZip supports all major archive formats. To name a few: ZIP, 7z, BR, TAR, ZipX, RAR, APK, CAB, ISO, and ACE.

Here is how you run the test:

1. Download and install the latest version of the archiver. You can download a portable version or use winget install -e peazip to install it from the command line.
2. Open the application and use the file manager to navigate to the folder with the archives that you want to test.
3. Select them all, for instance by holding down Ctrl and left-clicking on each archive, using Ctrl-A, or right-clicking and picking “select all” from the context menu.
4. Right-click on the selection and select More > Test to start the verification process.

PeaZip tests one archive after another, displaying results in a separate window. You could move all archives into a single folder to make this operation easier, or switch folders to continue testing archives.

All in all, this is a straightforward option to batch test archives on Windows (or any other of the supported operating systems).

One of the most frustrating experiences as a Windows Insider is the Controlled Rollout feature in my experience. You sign up to beta test Windows 11 versions and instead of getting all features ready for testing, Microsoft is limiting access to new features.

While you can enable the features with the ViVeTool, doing so requires more steps and is not super comfortable. Still, it is the only reliable option to enable features that are on “roll out” immediately on a Windows 11 system.

Serial leaker Phantom of Earth discovered a hidden feature in recent Insider builds of Windows 11 that should make things easier for users.

Microsoft is FINALLY adding a "Feature Flags" page to Windows Insider settings that will let you manually toggle new features on or off without needing to use vivetool or suffering through CFR! (Hidden bits in 26300.8155, not enabled yet) pic.twitter.com/YiP4acx0Nu

— phantomofearth ☃️ (@phantomofearth) April 3, 2026

Microsoft is apparently working on integrating its own “ViVeTool-like” interface in the Settings. This means that testers can enable certain features, that are on rollout, directly there.

The full functionality is unknown at this point. Will all features be listed there or only handpicked ones by Microsoft? We do not know at this point. There is also the chance that Microsoft is having a change of heart at one point.

Also, it appears that the change targets Insider versions only and not stable builds. Stable Windows 11 users who want to enable some features directly will therefore still have to use the ViVeTool to do so.

If done right, it could improve testing certain Windows 11 features and changes for many testers.